Claytonia lanceolata

This somewhat rare plant{{Cite book|last1=Elias|first1=Thomas S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBVHr6gYxpQC&pg=PA92|title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods|last2=Dykeman|first2=Peter A.|publisher=Sterling|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9|location=New York|pages=92|oclc=244766414|orig-year=1982}} is native to western North America, growing in the sagebrush steppe and foothills up to alpine slopes. It thrives in the rocky soil of alpine climates where the snow never melts.{{Cite web|title=Claytonia lanceolata Lanceleaf Spring Beauty, Idaho springbeauty, Pacific springbeauty, Peirson's springbeauty PFAF Plant Database|url=https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Claytonia+lanceolata|access-date=2021-12-11|website=pfaf.org}} It is a perennial herb growing from a tuber one to three centimeters wide. It produces a short, erect stem reaching a maximum height of {{Convert|15|cm|frac=4|abbr=on}}.{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Ronald J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25708726|title=Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary|publisher=Mountain Press Pub. Co|year=1994|isbn=0-87842-280-3|edition=rev.|location=Missoula, MT|pages=122|language=en|oclc=25708726|orig-year=1992}} At its smallest the plant bears only its first two rounded leaves before flowering and dying back. Its thick leaves are helpful for storing water. If it continues to grow it produces two thick, lance-shaped leaves further up the stem. The star-shaped flowers come in inflorescences of three to fifteen blooms and they are white or pink, often with veiny stripes and yellow blotches near the base of each petal. The fruit is a small capsule containing a few seeds, which are black and shiny.

The entire plant is edible raw or cooked,{{Cite book|last=Benoliel|first=Doug|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/668195076|title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest|publisher=Skipstone|year=2011|isbn=978-1-59485-366-1|edition=Rev. and updated|location=Seattle, WA|pages=147|oclc=668195076}} including the potato-like corm from which it grows.{{Cite book|last=Fagan|first=Damian|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1073035766|title=Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert|publisher=FalconGuides|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4930-3633-2|location=Guilford, CT|pages=62|oclc=1073035766}} Some report that the bulbs must be cooked to remove toxins.

Native Americans ate the roots and pods, which can be cooked and eaten like potatoes.{{Cite book|last=Reiner|first=Ralph E.|title=Introducing the Flowering Beauty of Glacier National Park and the Majestic High Rockies|publisher=Glacier Park, Inc.|year=1969|pages=24}} The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked.{{Cite book|last=Nyerges|first=Christopher|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/965922681|title=Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods|publisher=Falcon Guides|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4930-2534-3|location=Guilford, CT|oclc=965922681}}

The Okanogan-Colville, Okanogan, and Nlaka'pamux Native American peoples used the tuber of this plant for food and for animal fodder.

Western spring beauty is occasionally grown in gardens by those interested in wildflower gardening. Outside their native habitat they will not persist if subjected to either extreme drying during the summer or being flooded during rainstorms.{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Claude A. |title=Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills |date=1983 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-1127-0 |page=60}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Claytonia lanceolata|Claytonia lanceolata}}
• [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=2235 Calflora Database: Claytonia lanceolata (Lanceleaf springbeauty, Western spring beauty)]
• [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?6318,6336,6342 Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Claytonia lanceolata]
• [http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Claytonia+lanceolata Ethnobotany]
• [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Claytonia+lanceolata UC CalPhotos gallery of Claytonia lanceolata]

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lanceolata

Category:Edible plants

Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States

Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States

Category:Flora of California

Category:Flora of New Mexico

Category:Flora of Western Canada

Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)

Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status

{{Caryophyllales-stub}}